Delivering Certified Code in Accordance with DO-178C is Easy with the SCADE Family of Products and Tools

by | Dec 8, 2015 | Technology Featured

In today’s fast-paced and ever improving aeronautical industry, aircraft and their safety systems are becoming increasingly complex. With the safety of passengers and crew becoming increasingly more important, using certified code as one of the critical path design elements has grown in significance. However, aircraft designers and engineers are faced with an uphill battle when it comes to getting their new products on the market. There are many constraints and obstacles that can make developing new aircrafts very time consuming and costly. Which is where ANSYS SCADE family of products comes in to make the journey easier and far less costly, both in time and money.

In 2011, a joint committee, representative of the entire aeronautics industry, including aircraft manufacturers, equipment suppliers and tool vendors of software, along with certification authorities, approved the introduction of a new set of guidelines DO-178C. These guidelines replace the old DO-178B document, and are now mandated by a number of global aeronautics certification authorities. These include FAA in USA, EASA in the EU, Transport Canada, AR MAk in Russia and CAAC in China. The guidelines relate to the certification of new civilian or military aircraft that will use civilian installations and airspace.

There is also supplementary material included in these new and improved guidelines that cover two important topics:

  • DO-331 Model-Based Development and Verification, known as MBDV, which describes software modelling; and
  • DO-330 Software Tool Qualification Consideration that describes the qualification of software tools.

The aeronautics industry has made much progress in recent years in software development technology, as it was felt that new guidelines were necessary. For example the A300 aircraft only had a few thousand lines of embedded software, where as the A380 aircraft has more than 100 million, many of which are safety critical. Delivering certified code has become a significant design element which is where the SCADE product family come into their own.

codeANSYS SCADE have created a family of tools that are designed to help aeronautical engineers, as well as engineers in a number of other fields, to design and certify their critical software. In aircraft this includes software that could cause a fatal accident if it fails, which is classed as Level A software. The family of products actually covers software from Level D up to Level A. Certification standards in the aviation sector require a probability of no more than 1 per 109 flight hours, that a fatal accident will occur.

ANSYS SCADE 16.0

ANSYS SCADE product family now includes a modelling tool, a verification tool set covering model simulation and model coverage, and a qualified code generator that is able to produce the source code of an application automatically. The solution provided by the SCADE product family is unique in the market and can help make cost savings of up to 50%, when compared with previous software development processes. SCADE 16.0 has already received approval by the FAA and Boeing and is being used in the development of the Boeing KC-46 tanker aircraft.

SCADE Suite KCG includes a qualified code generator that will automatically generate a source code for the application.

SCADE Test allows repeated testing on an embedded target as well as a PC workstation which facilitates the final verification of the application.

The ANSYS SCADE product family includes:

  • ANSYS Simplorer® – An impressive platform for modelling, simulation and analysis of virtual system prototypes
  • SCADE System® – Developed for system engineers to make modelling more user friendly and intuitive
  • SCADE Suite® – A family of products that can be used to design critical software including that used in engine and flight control systems, landing gear systems, automatic pilots, fuel and power management and cockpit displays
  • SCADE Display® – A new generation of graphics software, development tools, display design, simulation, verification and validation, and the generation of certified code that is certified and in compliance with several safety standards including EN 50128:2011, IEC 61508 and IEC 60880
  • SCADE Test® – Provides test engineers with a comprehensive testing platform that can create and manage test cases, measure coverage, manage test results and execute the automation of test cases
  • SCADE Lifecycle® – Allows systems and software teams to manage and control design and verification across the complete life-cycle of their developing products
  • SCADE Solutions for ARINC 661 Compliant Systems – This is a suite of tools that can be used to create the logics and interaction/graphics aspects of complaint cockpit display systems and user applications.

Using the SCADE product family, engineers in the aeronautical, defence, rail, nuclear energy and industrial industry can design and certify critical software with relative ease and with reduced time constraints and cost. This is particularly important in the aircraft industry where a failure in software could cause a fatal accident. It is said that being a passenger in an aircraft is now statistically less dangerous that being a pedestrian in a small city, thanks to the DO-178C guidelines.

With SCADE 16.0 and its modelling tools, the certification template plans include development, verification, configuration management along with quality assurance. All based on a products typical lifecycle. The templates mean that the cost of writing plans is significantly reduced, by as much as 80%, and helps to facilitate the use of the family of SCADE products while the transition from DO-178B to DO-178C takes place.

To help with the implementation of SCADE critical systems and software development solutions Esterel Technologies can offer guidance and support. There is a team of dedicated professional consultants that can help companies and private individuals achieve success in all areas of critical software development. Services can be tailored to individual needs, to ensure that success is achieved and there is a quick return on the investment in developments.

As well as support and guidance there is also a training program that will improve SCADE users competency through a combination of theory and lab-based exercises. It matters little whether the users are novices or advanced in their SCADE knowledge. The training program can address specific needs.

ANSYS SCADE Offers a Unique Solution

SCADE has been developed to provide a solution for the problems that are specific to developing critical system and software applications. The display code generators that are part of SCADE Suite and SCADE Design are certified in accordance with relevant safety standards, which means that users can be confident their products will achieve verification.

SCADE complies with the following industry standards for safety:

DO-178B/C – up to Level A for the aerospace and defence industry

EN 50128 – up to SIL 3/4 in the rail transportation industry

IEC 61508 – up to SIL 3 in the industry and energy sectors

IEC 60880 – fully compliant in the area of nuclear instrumentation and control

IEC 62304 – fully compliant in the medical systems industry

ISO 26282 – for certification in the automotive industry

SCADE offers a comprehensive solution across a wide range of industries, and helps to make developments painless and with fewer constraints on time and cost. In today’s fast paced world it always helps to have a way of bringing advancements to the market quicker and make processes more cost-effective.

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